Don't
by satiablyUnsatisfied
Summary: Karkat and Sollux decide to investigate an old abandoned house for Halloween. Things don't end well. [[Rated M for gore and language]]


_**A/N: All character credit goes to Andrew Hussie at .com**_

* * *

**Don't**

* * *

Karkat's feet pounded the pavement, each running step carrying him farther away from the cursed house. He had tears streaming down his cheeks, but no sobs came. The desperation, fear, and adrenaline that coursed through his veins gave him no time for sadness. He glued his gaze to the sidewalk, counting the cracks in the pavement that flew by with each sharp slap of his rubber soles against the hard ground. He could hear the shrieking of metal in the far distance behind him, and he ran faster. He couldn't let himself be caught, he had to tell someone what had happened.

* * *

Sollux groaned loudly at Karkat's stubborn behavior. "Why won't you just go with me to the fucking house? It can't be that scary, and you can just hire your cousin Kanaya to babysit your sister! Kanaya'll take great care of her, you won't have to worry about a thing," he persuaded Karkat, lisping heavily. Although Karkat would never admit it, he was terrified of the dark, old houses, and jump scares. But he couldn't deny that Sollux's arguments weren't the least bit convincing.

"...fine. If I go with you, will you shut up and leave me alone? You're like a stray puppy, following me around and begging me for something every 5 minutes." he ranted at Sollux. He hadn't left him alone about going to the supposedly 'Haunted' house for the last week now. He bothered him everywhere he went. School, work (Sollux and Karkat both worked the graveyard shift at the local coffee shop), and even when he was at home, which is about the only place he could legitimately relax without having to worry about anything. Nepeta bothered him occasionally, but since she was 13, she usually kept to herself. She kept up her grades in school, and was polite to whom she needed to be polite to. She was mostly self-sufficient.

Sollux nodded profusely before fist pumping victoriously. It wasn't every day that someone could convince Karkat to willingly do something so stupid and frivolous, but you could say that he had a special soft spot for his cocky, lisp-y nerd of a friend Sollux. Karkat rolled his eyes at his friend's victory dance, and collected his garbage from his lunch and threw it away. He grabbed his homework and started walking to the school library, needing to complete some of his schoolwork. Sollux walked along beside him. babbling on about his computer programming and technology classes he was taking. He briefly mentioned his elective, German, and how annoying his teacher was.

"How is your language going by the way? I heard German was a tough language to learn. But, you have been taking it since seventh grade, so I guess it wouldn't be as hard as if you had just started taking it this year." Karkat asked him. He had been taking Spanish since seventh grade too, but due to budget cuts, they had the same teacher because the teacher could speak French, Spanish and German. He hadn't really payed attention in class, and absolutely refused to make a mockery of himself by chanting rhymes and folk songs along with the rest of his brain-dead class, and he also had difficulty rolling his R's, but he could still speak some pretty mad Spanish. Sollux grinned wickedly as he opened his mouth, supposedly to flaunt his language skills, but Karkat preemptively silenced his boasting by clapping a hand over his friend's mouth.

"El burro sabe más que tú. Think before you speak, you infant." he reprimanded, frustrated with how annoying his friend could be. Sollux laughed as he pulled his hand away, not even phased by his friend's barbed insult. Karkat was usually grumpy and cold, but he was a softy on the inside. He could never stay mad at someone for long, even for a serious offense. The maddest he'd ever been was when his girlfriend cheated on him with his best friend Gamzee. He was furious for days. He locked himself away in his room and refused to come out, even for food and water. What had finally drawn him from his room was when his best friend Sollux had let himself into his house and made his favorite food for him, grilled cheese and tomato soup. Simple, but hearty and it reminded him of his mom; she used to make it for him all the time before she passed away.

After her death, Karkat's father grew distant and unresponsive, and wouldn't acknowledge Karkat nor Nepeta for days on end, Karkat usually ending up having to make food for all three. Nepeta rarely ate, and his father as well, but he pushed them along until they started to move on. A few months later, his father had dropped a bombshell on him; he had bought him his own apartment and payed forth the rent for an entire year, and he and his sister were to move into it. At first he had been apprehensive, hesitant, and maybe he had felt a little foreboding, but he didn't think much of it as he and Nepeta packed their belongings and drove to the new apartment. They had settled in well, and the apartment building was closer to their schools. Karkat applied for a job at a small coffee shop a ways down the road. It payed well, and he enjoyed working there. He could even tolerate his boss and coworkers, and could stand to be around them for more than a few minutes at a time. That was where he met Sollux. They had hit it off right from the get-go; it started with Sollux lightheartedly teasing Karkat about the way he wiped down the tables. Karkat had of course reacted, ranting at Sollux about how rude it was. How was there even a right way to wipe down a table!?

But they soon became best friends, and Sollux helped him pull himself together after his girlfriend cheated on him. Karkat helped Sollux cope when he had found out his brother had gotten into a terrible car crash and suffered permanent brain damage, and had to stay with his girlfriend. When Karkat had learned of his father's suicide, the first place he had run to was the coffee shop, demanding Sollux and breaking down on his shoulder. They had suffered with each other, experienced happiness together.

Karkat was wrenched back to the present from his flashback by Sollux tugging on his sleeve. "C'mon, we're at the library, dumbass," he whisper shouted at him. He followed him into the library. They sat at a table in the back and Karkat threw down his school work. The sound reverberated through the library, bouncing off the aged shelves, and the librarian, who was shelving some books, gave him a stern look. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to his Nepeta; she was in P.E. right now, and due to her being blind in one eye, her depth perception was off and she couldn't participate.

"HEY. I'LL BE CAUGHT UP AT THE LIBRARY, I HAVE SOME SCHOOL WORK TO MAKE UP. YOU'LL BE HOME BY YOURSELF FOR A WHILE. ARE YOU OKAY WITH THAT?" he asked. He knew she was okay with it, that 'Gosh she was thirteen she could handle herself!' but he always had to make sure. While he was working at the coffee shop one day, he had spilt coffee on his phone and now it was permanently locked in caps lock, which explains why he types in all capitals. A moment later he felt his phone buzz and looked at it, seeing it was Nepeta's response.

":33 gosh karkitty, mew know im old enough to handle myself! i think i might go to my furiend's house anyway, so s33 mew when i get home!" he chuckled quietly at her response. Boy, that girl had a thing for cat puns. Great, he didn't have to worry about her for a few hours. In the meantime, he had to work on this enormous load of schoolwork he had put off for much too long. Sollux only laughed and shook his head at Karkat's awful time management. How can someone fall so behind? It's only been a week! Karkat punched Sollux in the shoulder for laughing at him, and got to work.

* * *

Karkat stuck his house keys in the lock, snarling and cursing at the books and papers falling out of his arms. He heard Sollux snickering at his bumbling behavior, and he turned around and flipped him off before continuing inside, throwing his books down on the coffee table before putting his backpack in its respective place. He sighed and stood back, running a hand through his hair and licking his snakebites before stomping off to the kitchen, supposedly to make a snack.

"What do you want to eat, dude? I have instant noodles, if you want anything," he called to Sollux from the kitchen.

"Nah, I'll just eat when I get home," came his friends lisp-y, rasping response from the living room. Karkat shrugged and reached into the cupboard, grabbing some ramen and putting some water on to boil. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was only 3:57, so he had a couple hours before his sister got home from her friend's house. He decided to give his cousin Kanaya a call, just to see if she was okay with babysitting Nepeta on Halloween. He grabbed his phone from the counter and punched in her number, holding the phone to his ear and waiting for her to pick up.

"Hello, this is Kanaya." he heard his cousin's voice and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey Kanaya, it's me, Karkat-" but he was interrupted. "I can't get to the phone right now, but if you leave me a message, I'll get back to you as soon as I can," the voicemail grated on his ears, possibly made more unpleasant given the circumstances. He gritted his teeth in annoyance and waited for the automated beep before leaving his message.

"Hey, Sollux and I are going to some stupid 'Haunted House' deal on Halloween, and I was hoping that maybe you could come over and babysit Nepeta for a few hours? Get back to me when you can." he sighed in exasperation and hit the End Call button and slipped the phone back into his pocket. He rolled his eyes, but his annoyance was amplified when he saw that the water on the stove was boiling over. He grabbed a few dish towels from a drawer somewhere to his left; he wasn't really paying attention to details, and set about mopping up the water. Mumbling curses under his breath, he managed to turn off the stove and move the pot, using the multiple towels to clean up the water. He ran a hand through his hair again and bit his lip, feeling his snakebite piercings. He had gotten them when he was 15, a birthday present from his mom. She had spent a grand total of 100 dollars on his piercings, because he had complained about not wanting the 'boring old silver ones' and had demanded the candy red ones he had seen in the window on a previous day. She had smiled and complied, and later after the incident, Karkat had felt bad about making his mom spend so much on him for his birthday, so he had gotten up early and made her breakfast in bed.

To this day he always wore his candy red lip rings, because it reminded him of how amazing his mother had been. Slowly coming back to the present, he threw the towels in the dirty laundry and grabbed a bowl from the cupboard, dishing himself up some ramen. Hastily grabbing a spoon, he made a mad dash to the living room, because ow this bowl was hot and oh God he needed to set it down. He practically threw it down on the table and flapped his hand around in the air, blowing on the ramen. Sollux laughed at his infantile behavior and continued fiddling around on Karkat's laptop.

"What the heck are you doing with my laptop, Sollux?" he asked casually. Karkat was usually foul-mouthed, but he had been trying to get better about it for his sister's sake. Sollux only shook his head. "Nothing, you idiot. I'm only doing a bit of research on this 'Haunted House' I begged you to go to with me." he clicked the mouse a few times, the reflection of what he was looking at bouncing off of his stupid 3D glasses he used to hide his eye color. Karkat only shrugged and went back to slurping up his ramen. He thought about the voicemail he had left Kanaya, and decided it would be better if he kept the phone by him just in case she called back. He got up after he finished chewing, heading to the kitchen and grabbing his phone, and then back to the living room. He came back to find his bowl empty, and Sollux licking his lips. Karkat glared at Sollux, and man, if looks could kill, Sollux would be stone dead. He had gone through so much trouble to make that ramen! He smacked Sollux upside the head, growling low in his throat.

"Hey, you didn't have to fucking hit me you asshole!" he yelled. Karkat only shrugged.

"Hey, you didn't have to fucking eat my ramen you asshole!" he mocked him, smirking at Sollux's indignant face. He picked up his bowl and walked back to the kitchen, and dropped the bowl in the sink to be washed later. When he got back, he plopped casually down on the couch next to Sollux. Sollux threw the laptop in Karkat's lap and leaned over, pointing long thin fingers at words on the screen.

"See, this is the address. It's not a hosted haunted house, with actors and fake props and stuff, so we'll have to sneak in-" but his explanation was cut short by Karkat's indignant yell.

"We have to SNEAK in!? Why didn't you tell me this before!? There is no way I'm trespassing on private property. No way. I'm not going. That is not a thing that is happening. I'll have to call Kanaya and tell her she doesn't need to come." Karkat fretted, clearly overwhelmed by the concept of breaking the law. But Sollux had other plans.

"KK, shut up. It's fine. No one even goes there anyway, so we won't be caught. The police inspect the property once a month, usually near the beginning, so we won't have to worry about getting arrested-"

"WE COULD GET ARRESTED!?"

"You didn't let me finish. There is a possibility that we could be arrested, but it's very low. There's no need to worry, just calm down. Don't tell Kanaya she doesn't have to come. I already have a list of all the supplies we'll need for the trip. There's flashlights, water bottles, sleeping bags-"

"You didn't tell me we were sleeping there overnight!"

"-food, blankets, pillows, jackets and extra layers because it's gonna be freaking cold, and some diapers for you in case you piss your pants." he said, finishing off the last with a satisfactory smack of the pencil on the notebook. Karkat swatted him in the back of the head again, but Sollux only laughed at his own joke. Not funny. Karkat snatched the notebook out of Sollux's hands, furiously scribbling out 'diapers'. He tore out the list and folded it neatly before he put it in his pocket. He sighed at Sollux's idiocy. He couldn't believe he had agreed to this. But there was no backing out now, he had already called the babysitter. Shaking his head, he ran upstairs and rummaged around in his closet for his spare sleeping bags and blankets. He found 3 blankets, and two sleeping bags he had bought for a previous camping trip for him and Nepeta to take some time off from the city, work, and school. He dragged them out and grabbed a random pen off of his desk, pulling out the list and crossing of sleeping bags and blankets. He folded them all up together and carried them downstairs, throwing them in a pile by the couch. He power walked to the kitchen and grabbed a few granola bars out of the cupboard. He went to the pantry and pulled out a cheap styrofoam cooler he had bought, for the camping trip. Since Halloween was the day after tomorrow, he should probably get packed as soon as possible.

Sollux called to him from the living room. Karkat couldn't hear what he said, but he could tell it was a question.

"I'm looking for some food we can take with us to the house!" he shouted back. The living room was pretty far away from the kitchen, so shouting back and forth was required to be heard. He figured that he couldn't take instant noodles, because that would require fire and a pot of water. So he looked around and decided that it would be best just to bring dry food. They would only be there one night anyway, so they wouldn't need much. Granola bars would work, maybe some chips or Cheetos. He grabbed a reusable bag from somewhere inside the pantry and tossed the granola bars, chips and Cheetos into it. He sighed, closing his eyes and running a hand through his hair. It was going to be a long night, the night of October thirty-first.

* * *

Karkat crammed the sleeping bags, blankets, and everything else they had packed into the back seat of Sollux's car. Later that evening, Kanaya had called back and said she could, in fact, make it in time for Halloween. She just needed to know if her girlfriend Rose, who was visiting her at the moment, could also stay, seeing as she hadn't wanted to leave her alone during her visit. Karkat had reluctantly agreed, as long as there was no funny business, and to that, Kanaya replied "The only funny business will be you running, screaming from that silly house." Karkat had grumbled a quick goodbye and called up the stairs to Nepeta.

"Behave, Nepeta; you're babysitter will be here in an hour. Don't be a brat. And yes, she already said she'll take you trick or treating." he shouted up the stairs to his sister, hearing a triumphant shout in response. Ever since she was little, Nepeta had always loved trick or treating. He heard Sollux slam the car door shut, before shuffling to the front door. Karkat shouted a quick goodbye to his sister before heading towards the car with his friend. Karkat climbed into the passenger seat and shut the door, fastening his seatbelt as Sollux did the same on his side. He put his key in the ignition and turned it, and the engine roared to life inside his 1967 Chevrolet Impala. It had been handed down from his father a couple years ago, when Sollux had gotten his driver's license. He cherished the car, took very good care of it, and was always very protective over it. He put the car in drive and slowly pulled out of the driveway, looking both ways for cars. Karkat folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes, seeing as it was a long drive ahead.

* * *

Sollux smacked Karkat in the face, trying to wake his friend up. Karkat slowly blinked himself awake, opening his eyes to darkness. He heard a soft, lisp-y voice beside him and instantly knew they had arrived.

"KK, we're here," he rasped quietly. Karkat felt dread well up in his gut, and a strong sense of foreboding washed over him. I don't like this, he thought to himself. Despite the bright red flags waving in his mind, he unbuckled his seatbelt and pulled on his jacket, opening the car door and stepping out into the cool, crisp October night air. He shivered, rubbing his arms and pulling his hood up, tightening the adjustable strings laced into the hood. His shallow breaths came out in wisps of steam, before dissipating slowly. He turned to see his friend stand up straight and close the door, before moving towards the back doors to unpack their stuff. He pulled out the bag with their sleeping bags, blankets and pillows in it, and Karkat grabbed the food and water from Sollux so that he wouldn't be over-encumbered. Karkat heard Sollux lock up the car before turning to face the old dilapidated house. They both took a deep breath before slowly, hesitantly starting towards the house. This was going to be a long night, and Karkat didn't have a good feeling about this house.

* * *

Karkat and Sollux stumbled aimlessly through the rotting, musty smelling hallways, looking for a room they could set up shop in. Sollux called to Karkat from a few feet ahead, saying he had found a room that was 'semi-decent enough to call a bedroom' before he disappeared into the doorway. Karkat rolled his eyes and groaned before following his enthusiastic friend down the dark hallway and into the room. There were two twin sized beds, a dusty old lamp, two bedside tables, a moldy rug, and a bathroom. Sollux threw all of his stuff on one of the beds and went to try the light in the bathroom. When he flipped the switch they heard a loud buzzing before the light blew out. Sollux ducked his head and threw his arms over up, 'protecting' himself. Karkat laughed at his childish behavior before setting down his stuff on his bed and digging through it, pulling out a bag of Doritos. He ripped them open and shoved fistfuls of the disgustingly delicious, false cheese overloaded corn chips in his mouth. He crunched them with satisfaction, savoring the cheese flavoring. He hated them so much. He hummed with contentment. Sollux only shook his head and snatched the bag from Karkat, pulling a few chips out and eating them slowly.

Karkat frowned; sometimes he worried about his friend. He never really ate much, and the result was a 140 pound six foot and four inch nerd. He shook his head and rooted through the snack bag again, pulling out a dark chocolate bar he had stashed for himself. He turned away from Sollux and broke open the wrapper, pulling it off slowly so as to not make any noise and alert Sollux of his secret treat. He broke a section of the chocolate, and then broke off another, smaller section, popping it into his mouth and biting down. He smiled and closed his eyes, savoring the lovely dark chocolate; there was no way he could ever express how much he loved chocolate. The chocolate melted on his tongue and he broke off another piece, and another and another, until all the chocolate was gone. He looked down at the empty wrapper sadly, wishing he had saved some for later. Oh well, he had another in his backpack anyway. He crumpled the wrapper and shoved it in his pants pocket in a feeble attempt to hide the evidence. Secretly, he wanted Sollux to find out, just so that he could relish his jealousy.

Sollux sighed and folded down the bag of chips, putting a clip on it to keep them from spilling. He tossed the bag over to Karkat, who caught it and returned it to the bag. Karkat ran a hand through his hair and habitually ran his tongue over his snakebites. He shoved everything off his bed and layed down, glancing at his watch and groaning.

"It's only six o' clock dude. I hate fall, it always gets dark so early. Do you think we should take a nap or something, so we'll have more energy for tonight?" he asked Sollux, staring at the ceiling.

Sollux nodded, although Karkat couldn't see it. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, actually." he agreed, and pulled his and Karkat's blankets and sleeping bags out of the bag. He tossed Karkat two of the blankets and his sleeping bags, while keeping one for himself. Karkat might have said something, but remembered that Sollux was practically immune to the cold. He only shrugged and threw the comforters over himself, rolling over on his side and closing his eyes. He soon fell asleep to the sound of Sollux's snoring.

* * *

Karkat jolted awake to a soft bumping sound, coming from down the hallway outside his door. It had a rhythm. It was almost calming in its constant, maintained beat. Thump. Thump. Thump. It continued, getting louder as it approached his door. Karkat glanced at Sollux's bed, and saw that he… wasn't there. For a split second, Karkat felt a wave of panic roll over him, making his heart thump and his gut roil. But the feeling subsided when he remembered that Sollux was a nightly sleepwalker. He sighed in relief and opened the door, and found his friend trudging down the hall, eyes closed and feet dragging. Karkat rolled his eyes and reached out, grabbing Sollux's shoulders and making him stop. But he found that even after he stopped his friend, the thumping still continued. Karkat's eyes widened, the nerve rattling, cold sweat panic washing over him again. Karkat shook Sollux awake, breathing heavily.

"Sollux, Sollux! Wake up! Wake up, damnit!" he hissed under his breath. The thumps got louder, although he couldn't see anything when he looked down the hall. Sollux blinked awake, looking groggily at Karkat.

"KK… what? Where are…?" he slurred clumsily. Karkat patted his cheek gently, waking him up further.

"Sollux, man, we're at the house… I think someone's here with us." he whispered nervously. He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself, but the prospect of someone else being there with them seemed to jolt Sollux into an alert state.

"Dude… what if it's the cops? Or what if-" he was cut off by a loud shrieking sound, similar to the sound of metal scraping against itself. Sollux and Karkat grimaced and slapped their hands over their ears, groaning quietly. It was so loud! It sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard, and it grated against their ears and skull unbearably. They hunched over and huddled against the doorway, trying to shut out the sound with their hands. It got quieter as it went toward the staircase, and in that moment, Karkat realized something. It's coming for us.

Karkat pried Sollux's hands away from his ears so he could alert him of his recent discovery.

"It's coming down the stairs, its after us! We have to hide!" Sollux nodded and stood up, and Karkat dragged him into their room. He gathered all the supplies they had taken with a great sweep of his arms, and carried it into the bathroom with Sollux in his wake. Once everything was inside, he closed the door, locking it securely and scrunching down in the corner near the old, rusty bathtub. Sollux sat down beside him, barely daring to breath. They needed to keep quiet or they would certainly be found. The sound got louder again, and a great pounding told them that the thing, whatever it was, was at their bedroom door. Karkat started shaking, and Sollux held a finger to his lips, telling Karkat to be quiet. Karkat nodded, and they listened intently for any other sounds alerting them to the location of the thing hunting them. The pounding stopped, leaving them in complete quiet. Karkat and Sollux held their breath in anticipation of what was to come next.

A sudden smash, a loud sound so assaulting to the senses it gave Karkat a headache and made his ears ring, was what happened next. Ringing. All he could hear was ringing. That, and the sound of creaking and cracking wood. He guessed that the door had been broken down. Once the ringing died down, he could hear again. He quaked and shivered, his eyes starting to water, from pain or fear, he couldn't decipher. The thumping continued, and Karkat dared to look at Sollux who was cowering next to him. The look his friend gave him was enough to chill him to the bone; the look in his eyes was one of pure terror, a look he had never seen his friend wear before. The fact that he had never seen that look on him before was enough to make Karkat fear the situation they were in even more. They kept hearing the thumps. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. It was coming closer. Karkat scrunched his eyes shut as the thumps stopped right outside the bathroom door. He heard Sollux stifle a sob next to him, and he fought back the tears brimming in his eyes, trapped like a dam, threatening to spill over. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, he repeated to himself over and over in his head, chanting his mantra like there was no tomorrow, which was a possibility.

Suddenly, the door blasted open, splinters of wood hitting his arms, his face, his legs. They lodged themselves painfully in his limbs, and they stung horribly. He cried out in pain, the wall of the damn finally breaking and all the tears pouring over his cheeks in rivers. He buried his head in his arms as he continued to crouch in the corner, not even daring to look up. He heard the hinges of the door creak and groan under the stress of the door being forcefully opened. He heard Sollux next to him, heaving breathy sobs into his arms. The thumps were almost deafeningly loud now. Karkat looked up. He slowly, slowly, slowly, lifted his head from his arms. He raised his head, slowly, and slowly, slowly cracked open his eyes. He saw black. All he saw was black in front of him. The silhouette of the thing was humanoid, although not completely human.

It had long arms, reaching down to the floor. Its legs were extremely long, and the torso was half as short as it should be. Its posture was awful, it was slouched over horribly, making it so that it's arms dragged along the floor. Its face was shrouded by a black ski mask, and as comical as that could've been in any other situation, it only made it more terrifying now. The only facial feature Karkat would see were its eyes, which were bloodied, the skin was cracked, broken, bleeding; pus oozing from the eye sockets. Karkat choked and gagged, a sob and maybe some vomit trying to work its way up his throat. The thing had a large, serrated knife in its hand, crusted with blood and rust. He looked over to Sollux and saw that he had looked too, and was trying not to break down and sob uncontrollably. But it was in that split second that everything changed for them.

Sollux stood up abruptly, a frightened, determined look on his face. He grabbed a board from the smashed door, a large one, and ran at the thing. He brought it up quickly and bashed the thing in the face. A sickening crunch was heard as the board came in contact with its face, and the board split in half. Sollux slowly pulled the board away and gasped; the thing had sustained no damage or injuries to the face, It reached up with a bony, rotting hand and grasped Sollux's shoulder firmly, turning and throwing him into the bedroom with force. He hit the opposite wall with a thud, and he cried out in pain, before falling silent. Karkat didn't dare make a sound, fearing he would be targeted next. The thing slowly dragged itself out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, towards Sollux, it's large knife glinting in the light of Karkat's flashlight beam. The knife scraped along the floor, imitating the sound they had heard earlier. It soon was standing in front of Sollux, its knife at the ready. Karkat very slowly, very quietly, crept out of the bathroom, that same sense of panic still troubling him and making his senses dull. The thing reached out an ugly, long, thin, crusty hand and grabbed Sollux by the throat, lifting him up and pinning him to the wall. Sollux struggled and choked and grabbed, pried, clawed at the hands, but to no avail. Karkat opened his mouth in a silent scream, not wanting to see his friend die in front of him. The thing brought its hand, which had the knife in it up, and before Karkat knew what was happening, had swiftly plunged it through Sollux chest.

Sollux choked once, twice, three times, a frightening amount of blood spilling from his chest and mouth. He looked over at Karkat. He tried to take a deep breath, to keep breathing, to keep life circulating in his body, but he just coughed up more blood. With his last, dying breath, he warned Karkat.

"K-KK…. run, go-" more coughing, more blood. "Get out of here." before his head lolled to the side, and his last breath left his body. The blood… there was so much of it… it wouldn't stop flowing. "F-fuck, no, I-" The thing slowly turned to look at him, letting go of Sollux's throat; Sollux slid down the wall, the knife cutting up and slitting the rest of his upper body in half. Karkat looked away and covered his ears, trying to shut out the disgusting crunching, creaking and cracking of his best friend's bones. When he couldn't hear anything more, he turned back to look. With tears streaming out of his eyes at full force, he looked at the large, glinting streaks of blood staining the mustard yellow walls. The thing turned to look at him, holding up his knife. It had Sollux's blood on it, with what looked like chips of bone. Karkat heaved, and he vomited up what little he had eaten earlier. He sobbed and shook, choking on a mix of his tears, mucus, and vomit. He cried, harder and harder, until the thing started its eery gait again, only towards him. He panicked, and without a second though, bolted to the door and threw it open, running into the hallway and down the stairs.

He stumbled down the stairs, tears blurring his vision and clouding his thoughts. He made it to to the last 5 steps and jumped off. He hit the floor running, sobbing, and panting. He still heard the eery thumping behind him. Thump. Thump. Thump. It kept getting closer, and Karkat knew he only had a bit of time before he too would end up like Sollux. He lengthened his strides and accelerated, reaching the front door and cranking the old brass doorknob, throwing himself against it and out onto the porch. He took a flying leap off of the old, moldy, rotting wood platform. He stumbled and fell on the gravel driveway, falling on his knees. The gravel tore and gouged his knees painfully, but he couldn't feel anything at the moment. Adrenaline pumped through his veins and made him faster as he ran to the car. He jumped into the passenger seat and flipped open the visor on the roof of the car, yanking the keys from their special hiding place. He jammed them into the ignition, taking a minute to glance out the windshield at the house. The thing was standing on the porch, staring him down with his bloodshot eyes. Karkat's own eyes widened and he turned the key. He expected to hear the car roar to life, but heard nothing and found that the key had… broken. He panicked and opened the car door in a rush, cutting his hand in the process.

He got out and slammed the door, taking off and running away from the old house in a rushed frenzy of panicked footsteps. He kicked up gravel and dirt as he ran. He ran and ran, he ran until his lungs burned and his legs were sore, but still he ran. He finally stopped running about 15 minutes later, when he had reached a small community near the edge of his city. He slowed down completely, collapsing on his knees on the pavement of the sidewalk. His already injured knees stung at the impact, but he didn't care. He took large, wavering gulps of breath, until his lungs stopped burning. He still breathed deep breaths, and ran a hand through his hair. His tears had dried, and left tracks of dirt on his face. His skin felt tight and stretched at the same time. He coughed once in a while, accidentally breathing in dust. He held his head in his hands, before standing up again. He started running again, running just as fast. He wouldn't stop until he made it home.

* * *

Karkat stumbled into his apartment 3 hours later, still heaving the same wavering, gulps of breath when he entered the apartment. He shut the door quietly behind him, locking it for extra measure. He found the babysitter asleep on the couch, cuddled with her girlfriend. Karkat broke down, collapsing on the floor again. He put his head in his hands and sobbed quietly, not wanting to wake up Kanaya and Rose. He sobbed and sobbed. He sobbed until he couldn't cry anymore. He felt so sad, he felt an overwhelming sadness putting pressure on his heart, threatening to crack it into a million pieces. He kept heaving; the crying made him more tired. He stood up and choked back more sobs, climbing the stairs, still hiccupping. He reached his room and collapsed on his bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

* * *

It was November sixteenth. The police had been called by Kanaya and Rose after Karkat had told them what had happened. The police did an investigation and found nothing, as expected, and today was the day of Sollux's funeral. His throat tightened whenever he said that phrase, but he ignored it and tried to stay strong. He leaned against the bathroom sink in the funeral home, getting ready for the ceremony. To be honest, he didn't know if he was ready to give his speech yet or not. But for his best friend's sake, dead or alive, he'd give it his best. He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for the emotional trauma he was about to experience. He slowly stepped out of the bathroom, making his way to the door and outside to the gravesite.

* * *

Karkat walked up to the podium, fidgeting nervously and looking everywhere but the crowd. He shuffled through his index cards he has written his speech on, and began.

"I, um, don't have much to say-" he choked, tears welling up in his eyes. His voice cracked, "Other than that-" he swallowed, "He, was one of the, u-uh-" his voice cracked again, "most i-important," he coughed, having flashbacks. The memory of his friend's bones cracking, the blood on the wall. "people ever to me. E-excuse me, s-sorry." his voice cracked again, and he bolted off the stand, running to the bathroom. He could almost hear Sollux taunting him in his mind. Quit stuttering, you sound like a pre-pubescent boy asking out his crush, Sollux would say. These thoughts caused more tears to run down his face and he made it to the bathroom. He huddled in one of the stalls and heaving into the toilet. The flashbacks and thoughts still haunted his dreams, and he would usually wake up in a cold sweat, crying. He coughed, getting up and stumbling to the sink. He washed his face, and drank some water. He wiped his eyes, and grabbed some paper towels, blowing his nose. He sobbed again, thinking about his friend.

* * *

He was laying in bed later that night. He listened to the rain pelt the windows, the soft pitter patter lulling the troublesome thoughts. He rolled over in his bed, tucking his hands under his head. He listened to his heart beating. Thump. Thump. Thump. It soothed his sadness, dulled his senses, calmed his clamoring worries. He shut his eyes, slowly falling asleep to the sound of the rain and his heartbeat. He was almost asleep, but his eyes shot open and his heart skipped a beat.

Those thumps were not his heartbeat.

* * *

_**A/N: This is just a little something I wrote for school. Happy late halloween kiddies!**_


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